A new and potentially deadly form of bird flu has claimed its first human victim.
The previously-unknown sub strain of the H10N8 virus killed a woman who was admitted to hospital in China with fever and pneumonia, tests have shown.
The victim, from Nanchang City in Jiangxi province, died nine days after falling ill despite antibiotic and antiviral treatment.
Scientists believe the strain spread from poultry and the death is not an isolated case, with at least one other person in the province also infected.
Dr Mingbin Liu, from Nanchang City Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the second case was “of great concern”.
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He said: “It reveals that the H10N8 virus has continued to circulate and may cause more human infections in future."
The dead woman had visited a live poultry market a few days prior to infection, suggesting an incubation time of around four days - similar to that of other bird flu strains.
Swab samples were taken from the woman victim''s windpipe and the results reporting the first human death associated with H10N8, appear in The Lancet medical journal.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said viruses that crossed the species barrier were always worrying because it was unlikely humans would have prior immunity.
He said: “We should be especially worried when those viruses show characteristics that suggest they have the capacity to replicate easily or to be virulent or resistant to drugs. This virus ticks several of these boxes and therefore is a cause for concern.”
But others said that with no evidence of the strain spreading from human to human, there was no cause for major alarm.
Dr Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading, said: “The patient will have had contact with tens or hundreds of friends, family, acquaintances and health care workers before the severity of the disease was apparent.
“As yet there are no reports that the virus has spread to anyone else. H10N8 fits the profile of an avian flu virus in that the disease is terrible, but the virus is not readily transmitted.”
